Lighting the most famous tree in the World!

The Christmas tree at The Rockafella Centre is world renowned for it's size and has been a world wide symbol of New York's Xmas Festivities for the 75th year!

The Christmas tree that adorns Rockefeller Center is typically a Norway Spruce. The minimum requirement is that the tree be 65 feet tall and 35 feet wide, however manager of Rockefeller Center gardens prefers the tree be between 75 and 90 feet tall and proportionally wide. Norway Spruce that grow in forests don't typically reach these proportions, so the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tends to be one that was ornamentally planted in someone's front or back yard. There is no compensation offered in exchange for the tree, other than the pride of having donated the tree that appears in Rockefeller Center.

With 30,000 environmentally friendly LED lights strung on more than five miles of electrical wire, and topped with a Swarovski crystal star, this was event we couldn't miss! Tens of thousands crowded the sidewalks for the event and hundreds of millions watch the Tree Lighting Ceremony broadcast live across the globe.


It was a reasonably cold night, and a very long wait as we could not see only hear the entertainment which included Michael Buble, Ice Skaters and The Rockettes (we arrived at about 5.30pm, the entertainment was between 7pm-9pm and tree was lit at 8.55pm!). The tree was lit very fast right at the end of the entertainment program and due to how far away we were it was a slight anti-climax, ultimatly we could have just gone and seen it another time, but hey we went to the iconic 'Rockafella Xmas tree lighting'...another once in a lifetime event ticked off!

Lincoln Square Winterseve festivities!

''Winters Eve'' (not sure when or what this is, wikipedia can't help!) festivities are happening all over the place at the moment, tonight's was at Lincoln Square including Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Centre. I was a mix of performances, children singing, food stalls with special taster prices, (we enjoyed some 'Tomatoe and Cheddar' and 'Senegalese Chicken Soup') as well as facepainting and crafts for the kids. It was similar to Stony Stratfords Light switch on... but at the same nothing like it! Sam, Suwan (our friend from London, who's from Singapore, who is a new ISVP student!) and myself missed the Mulled Wine and Xmas markets usually found at the British versions of these shindigs tonight but hear that they are in different areas of New York starting in December.
What made this evening strange is that the festivities were happening at different times all over the area of Broadway between 68-59th streets, the roads however were not closed and NY life just continued normally around the crowded sidewalks...!? Weird as well as the fact it was a really warm evening, 14degree celcius! We are hoping the Rockafella Centre Christmas lights on Wednesday will set us into a more Christmasy spirit...which we are not feeling at all at the moment... Bah Humbug!!

Sunday night Chill out!

It's been a very tiring and long week, with travelling, Thanksgiving in the middle and dancing all weekend to make up our 12classes (a lot of classes were cancelled due to people traveling for the holidays).

We hoped to go to the movies but were too tired so ended up renting a dvd from Blockbuster (Old School style!!! I felt like I was having a sleepover and allowed to choose a film!), getting some icecream and cotton candy and relaxing watching a film on the TV rather than on the laptop as none of our UK Dvd's work over here!

Boxing Day...oh no wait its only the day after Thanksgiving!

Friday felt like Boxing Day that over-eaten-very-content feeling! Rosina had classes on friday and Sam had a chill out day, we steered well away from Black Friday Sales due to the crowds we noticed in Times Square and headed home for an evening in ....with all the lovely leftovers that Margaret gave us from the night before!

The Parade...

A blog that you definitely have to watch the video!...The Macy's Thankgiving Parade did not fail to disappoint us yesterday (arrived at 7am for a good view, although we were still two lines back, people with camping chairs and children in duvets in front of us...who knows when they got there!). We watched uptown near the start of the parade as Times Square and Herald Square were packed, it was an amazing morning, full blue skies, fresh but still lovely! We arrived home just to see the final acts dancing outside Macy's in Herald Square in the heat of our own apartment!

Since Thanksgiving is now over, Santa claus has come to town, christmas music and windows everywhere! Black Friday sales bought the millions to the city so we took a diversion out of midtown and headed straight home to the Upper West!

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving!

Turkey....we had a lovely feast prepared by the lovely Margaret, Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and marshmallow, peas and white onions, banana muffins, apple sauce, carrots and gravy!

Hoboken...missing the train in Dover due to it never opening its doors we had to road trip across New Jersey to the lovely Hoboken and get the path train straight into Manhattan. Amazing views of the NY skyline.

Apple pie...and pumpkin pie and cherry pie and brownies and icecream and cookies....Immense deserts all homemade!

NFL sports....Sam watched the american football with Maggies Dad, brother in law and nephew.

Kids and Dogs... We've missed children, and what a pleasure it was to spend Thanksgiving with two of the most polite and disciplined American Kids ever, Maggies niece and nephew. Dexter the dog was a cutie too!

Stars...it was lovely to be in the country and be able to see the stars in the sky as New York has this constant glow.

Games were played...including a game of hide and seek, with the children and the big kids (me and sam) of course!

Intelligent conversation learning brand new french words from Half Sister Jerry!

Very Confusing Penn Station, madness on Thanksgiving after the parade, and no directions to any platforms, they give passengers all of 9minutes to find the platform and board the train....MADNESS!


Idyllic country side and some massive condo's (houses!). Travelling through a rural state felt like we were in a film...wooden houses similar to Wizard of Oz...!

NJ Transit was a rather interesting experience, a double decker train and thousands of stops, finally reaching our destination of Dover with one or two other people!

Giving a massive thank-you to the Christel's for such lovely hosting of our first ever Thanksgiving!!!

Mass Evacuation of New York City...otherwise known as Thanksgiving Holiday!

42.5million people are set to travel across the U.S today and tomorrow in order to return home or go on vacation over a holiday that is nearly bigger than Christmas, 'Thanksgiving'. Celebrated by families getting together, donating to City Harvest, making pumpkin pie, eating a Roast Turkey dinner and of course the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, this holiday has halted the spread of Christmas upon NYC and tomorrow welcomes the start of the Holiday season, with what seems like to us a Christmas dinner a month early!

We have been graciously invited to Maggie's family's house in New Jersey and we are very excited about joining an American family in their home for this massive event! Rumour has it more American's return home to spend more time with their families on Thanksgiving than they do on Christmas day!

Today, Thanksgiving Eve, we have made some 'British Brownies' for our dinner invitation tomorrow eve (Brownies with the Union Jack embellished in M&M's on top!) and we also ventured to Penn Station to buy our NJ Transit train tickets to the neighbouring state. What a queue and a hell of a lot of people were there all doing the same thing for travel tomorrow as well as people rushing to board the hundreds of trains leaving the city for the holiday. Uptown, the Macy's Thanksgiving Balloons are being blown up ready for the parade tomorrow and people are preparing their trimmings for the turkey...similar to xmas eve...except here a delicacy is Sweet potatoes topped with Marshmallows...! News broadcasts on the television are hour by hour informing people of traffic jams on the highways as well as delays (although not too many!) at the three airports. The broadcasts are also warning the public about the 'HOLIDAY HEART'... a warning to everyone not to over indulge on the lovely food and drink and that for anyone with pain in the heart, they suggest that they immediately visit ER (A+E) for a cardiac scan....lets hope they don't find too many people with just indigestion from the Sweet potato dish!! Adverts are also pushing the massive 'Black Friday Sales' which we will be popping to browse at after class on friday, many of the shops are shut tomorrow with some Friday sales starting at 4am and Macy's sale is starting at Midnight tomorrow...the city that never sleeps!

We will be getting up very early to secure a place on Central Park West to watch the massive parade, heading home to collect our Brownies and then getting the train into New Jersey (Our first inter-state travel!).

Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone!
(P.s Rosina is hoping that she is going to promote this tradition in the UK when we get back...I'm not complaining, double xmas dinner, yes please!)

The Addams Family

Each month we try and see a show (has it really only been 2months that we've been here?) so our show we chose for November (month 2) was The Addams Family, starring Brooke Shields.





Adapted from the original Charles Addams cartoons that famously were made into the television shows that we remember watching in the 90's we were rather excited about this very "outside-the-box" musical!






The musical was at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre on Broadway and 46th St which has been decked out in the foyer and auditorium with candelabra's and spooky statues, to emulate the Addams Family mansion! Rosina treated Sam to regular seats (rather than the student ones but still the cheapest price band as good seats here can be up to $225!!) Instead of being right at the front this time....we were right at the back...with a pretty good view!!


A very select musical it was, funny with good effects and music, aimed at an adult audiences with many of the jokes passing ocer the younger audiences heads, causing a lot of fidgeting...but ill leave audience etiquette for another time! Overall an enjoyable evening, and a must see for any untraditional theatre goers!

The show finnished with a collection for Broadway Cares, a charity promoted by the Broadway shows raising money for people suffering from HIV and AIDs. There was a bucket collection as well as signed merchandise for sale. On top of these there was an on stage auction ,during the curtain call, of the ring that Brooke Shields wore throughout the show, this went on for at least 10minutes with the highest bidder of $1400 winning the ring and a backstage tour... Wonder if it's on eBay yet?



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Sam's American Treasure!!

Since moving here in sept Rosina and I have discovered many amazing treats and refreshments that are available here in New York. Rosina taking a huge liking to Dunkin' Doughnuts's Spiced Iced Apple Cider and still an avid fan of Starbucks Chai Tai Latte. My new favourite refreshment is Green Tea Frappuccino, of which I discovered it today in Starbucks. Happy Holidays!!!

Here's a pic!

At BDC!!

We realised today that although we have written nearly 100 blogposts...there are only 1 or 2 that are focussed on why we are in NYC...to dance!!!

Classes have been going really well, we take 12 classes a week plus a couple of extra each at either Peridance Capezio Studio, Alvin Ailey or Steps. Rosina's concentration is jazz and her mentor is Chris Hale (Contemporary lyrical teacher) she also loves taking hardcore Hiphop aswel as vocal class (something about the air here!). Other favourite classes are Michelle Barber, Luam (Beyonce's choreographer), Stavro and Powell (Ballet) and she keeps up her Yoga too! My concentration is Hiphop and my mentor is Jermaine Brown (Jazz Funk), I also taking waving twice a week and keeps up my contemporary taking Barber and Petronelli. (To see more about the extensive faculty at BDC check out...http://www.broadwaydancecenter.com/faculty/index.shtml )
As you can see from the website there is always guest teachers and substitute teachers as well as Masterclasses especially for the program students, not one week so far has been the same.

We have noticed here there is an intense focus on stretching and very fast picking up of choreography, nearly every single class has a long warmup with lot of stretching, releves and adage and teaches more than a two minutes choreography in a hourandhalf class. The mentality in classes is very different to what we have experienced before, other students are positive and complimentary, teachers have new and intricate ways of teaching and inspiring and the choreography is right on the forefront of fashions, especially with guest teachers from LA visiting a lot.

Waiting around in-between classes is always fun, a lot of the people that we made friends with on the first week are different concentrations or take different levels so there is always someone different to catch up with. The viewing windows into the studios allow the options to see different teachers before taking their classes.

Rehearsals for the next performance project are taking place in the early morning slots (8am-10.30am) as well as rehearsals for a cabaret which Rosina is in at the Mets Stadium in December take place in the late night slots 9pm-10.30pm), the Pro Semester students are coming to the end of their course (similar to Performers, Birds, London Studio centre) having mock auditions, agents in and rehearsals for their christmas showcase and there is a new set of ISVP students arriving on December 3rd...its definitely never boring! The people that started with us that are on 3month course are also nearing the last month of their time here, it will be really sad to see some of them who we spend a lot of time with leave, but some of them are continuing their training at other schools in NY so I'm sure that we will still keep in touch.

Alongside all the dancing Rosina is progressing well with Gymnastics, and I am running longer and longer (getting skinnier and skinnier!) in order to train up for a marathon!

Video footage and photos are not allowed in studios, but some teachers to take videos in classes and we have subscribed to all their youtube links in the hope that we may find some footage! In the mean time, below are some photos of our time at BDC, pretty much 70% of our time here, 5 days a week, sometimes a saturday morning or sunday afternoon too!

Sweaty after Michelle Barbers Class...i'm so jealous of Rosina's pack!

Musical Theatre Workshop

Class with Travis Wall (very popular class which was fully booked by 10.30am and started at 9pm!)

Chilling between classes

The Fire Alarm

Sam burnt the Pizza...and so our apartments fire alarm went off...it's not a laughing matter...but what the fire alarm does, Rosina finds hilarious...!!! Check it out! So American!!

Breakfast with some Brits!

Our dear friends Luke and Jordon are currently visiting New York and so we met them for a true American Breakfast today in our favourite breakfast place on Times Square! It was very surreal the four of us hanging out in New York! So lovely to see some of our British friends in NYC!

£3.14

Food shopping here is expensive, they have no huge Tesco or Lidl, its just privately run markets and organic shops.There is a chain called Food Emporium, but the name sum's up the calibre of people in there...!

Fruit and Veg however from the street vendors on every street is 'Cheap as Chips' (or Fries as you might say here), 5 Bananas, 6 Plums, 4 Oranges and a Pomegranate cost $5 ...£3.14 BARGAIN!

Sydney Dance Company

Recommended by Kate, last night we headed to the Joyce Theatre (especially for Dance, similar to Saddlers Wells but more personal) to see Sydney Dance Company. Wow does not explain how controlled and together this company was. Choreographed by Rafael Bonachela, originally part of Rambert Dance, modern and contemporary both influenced this 2 piece program which had 15 dancers, from all over the world, including St Albans! Front row seats for $10 meant that we saw every single muscle work, and now have slightly cricked necks!

I will create a group of dancers who will be unique. A group who will inspire choreographers and make them want to work with us. It’s about blossoming and opening up … rebirth.”

RAFAEL BONACHELA, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

PUPPIES!!!

In NY and I imagine across America there are still Pet shops that sell Puppies similar to Pet Kingdom in Harrods. For those of you that are animal activists, the shop that we visited, the puppies are bred and bought from reputable USDA licensed breeders and are cared for very well. Albeit in cages, they are brought out to be played with and then taken out to sleep more comfortably at night. They are kept clean and up to date with vaccines and there is a trained vet in store. Owners are checked before purchase and the shop sells every puppy need that you might dream of!
We visited the other evening after classes just to say hello!

How much is that puppy in the window?! Looking at $2100 + !!

'hey, have you found an escape yet dude?!'

Ba, bam, ba ba ba, Chihuahua!

Dolly the Dachshund - Personal Joke for Myra!

Three Muskateers, Pomeranian, French Beagle and Dachshund, playing and pulling each others tails!

Best looking and Most Expensive Award! Chinese Crested!

Watching their friend be signed and adopted!

Playing with my new owner!

Baby Blue Eyes!

And of course, our Favourites, the French Beagle and the 

Shiba-nuu.